Hero- FINISHED

[Melanie]

Could you train Hero for me? I would really like it if we could be trained for Hunter/Jumping or Cross Country. I would like the session that's $1000 for a week for 2 sessions a day if that's possible. Thank you!

[devilishjumper]

ok, I will post here about the 2 sessions per day, you can pick her up next monday you can come visit any time and you must come feed her every day as well.

Thank you

[Melanie]

Thank you!

[Melanie]

Put Hero's burgundy halter and matching lead on him. Take him out of his stall and clip crossties on his halter. Grab my tackbox out of the tack room and start brushing him in slow, rhythmic strokes. It takes my mind off Last Breath.....who might not make it another day. Pat him gently on his neck as I lead him back to his stall. Pour 2 cups of feed and grain in his feed bucket and close the door. Throw a flake of hay in his stall and refill his water. i say goodbye and head off to the clinic to take care of Last Breath.

[devilishjumper]

1-3-05

Session #1
Hello Hero, so your going to be a hunter and a jumper huh! Well we have a lot of work to do. I put his tack on and grab the lunge line and wip. I lead him into the rig, okay bot lets see what we've go to work with. I thread the lunge line through the bit and over his head attaching it to the other side of the bit. TROT! Hero slowly picks up a slow trot. A small crack of the wip later he is at a nice paced beautiful trot. Good boy!!! I take himg though all his 3 gaits on the lunge line in both ways. His flat work is exceptional. He is obviously trained in dressage. Okay let's see what were are starting off with in hunter, jumpers and cross-country so in the end we know how far you have come.

After the 20 min lunge, I get on and ride in in flat. He is very smoothe and has wonderful gaits! After he is completely warmed up I take him over a 1' jump. He willingly jumps it but knocks it with his hoof. I take him over it a few more times and he consistinly knocks it. I then take him over a 2' jump and he clears it with bad form and a small rub. I take him to a 2' 3'' fence okay boy how high can you go? He gets a bit nervous and jumps it knocking it down. I put it back up and she clars it this time rubing it.

Alright now let's see what you have cross-country. I trot him out to the large and vast cross country course and trot him around. He is very skiddish and spooky. I take him over a small 1' wood pile and he clears it and gets spooked on the other side.

ok boy that is enough for today now i know what i a have and the real training will start tommrow with hunters!

I untack and groom him!

Stating point-
Jumpers- can jump up to 2' 3'' and consistantly rubs
Hunter- Bad form good leads, knocks, no snap
x-country- jumps, good paced, spooky

[Melanie]

Hey boy...How are you?
I heard that you are great on the flat but need work fo jumping. It's okay boy...take as long as you need. I don't want to rush you. Your trainer is very good and I like her a lot. Right now I'm just going to brush you and clean your stall.
Grab his grooming box and curry him, and then brush him. Pick out his feet and then apply hoof oil. Last, I brush out his long mane and tail. No more knots! Then I put his winter blanket on and turn him out for a little while, while I clean his stall. I go back out and he just doesn't want to be caught! I chase him around for a while and then give up. I walk back to the barn and grab a carrot. Hey, when all else fails, use bribery! He comes up to me and I quickly clip his leadline on his halter. He looks disappointed and I...winded from chasing him. Oh well! I place 2 flakes of hay in his stall and kiss him good bye.

See you tomorrow boy!

[devilishjumper]

1-3-05

Session #2

hey there Hero, wow look how shiny you are I can tell your mommy was here today. Looks like she ran you around too, thats great because now we are going to work on hunters and you need to be concentrating not thing about all you energey! I take him out and tack him up.

I lead him out to the ring and let him go explore the ring alone. He stands quietly following me around. I set up a hnter jumper course with 4 all 1.5' jumps which are two lines 3 strids in betwwn each. I then set up a 2' birdie and a 1' strait rail and a 2' straight rail.

I grab Hero and lead him to the mount block and hop on and warm up for about 10 min. then i take him over the 1' jump to warm him up. He has bad form. I thn take him over the birdie~~~a birde is a high cross rail it is intended to make them snap their knees and jump off their hocks it greatly inproves form in hunters!~~~ he snaps up his knees and pushes off his hocks like i had hoped! I take him over it a few moe times then i take him over the 2' straight rail had he clears it with room to spare, it is not perfect form but it poves this works for him. I then do the hunter course and he snaps his knees over all but shows that they are not high enough to jump ogg his hocks properly. He keeps the correct leads all though out and has wonderful lead changes. He has a hard time adjusting his striding between jups so i continuosly asking him so lengthen and sshorten his stride on the flat and then do the course again this time his striding is much better.

OK boy that was great you have learned a lot!!! Tommrow is Jumpers

I take in in the stable and untack and groom him!
bye boy

[Melanie]

"Hey Baby! You seem kinda tired! Did you have a good work out yesterday?" I put his halter on gently and clip the matching leadline on his halter. I then walk him out to his pasture and turn him out. I lean on the fence and watch as he joyfully bucks and gallops around. He sure is happy to be out. I make sure the water in the field is fresh, then head back to the barn. I then grabbed the mucket bucket and dragged it to his stall. He was a dirty boy last night! It took me 30 minutes to clean his stall. Then I walked to the feed room to grab his grain. As I filled up his bucket with three scoops of grain I thought of how much I loved both my horses and how I would never live without either of them. I walked back to his stall and dropped the pellets into his red bucket and put the canister back in the feed room. I grabbed to flakes of hay and threw them into the stall. Then I unhooked his water bucket and scrubbed it until there was no more dirty scum in it. I refilled it with fresh warm water...since it was cold out...and hung it back into his stall. I grabbed the lead line and a carrot...just in case there was a repeat of yesterday....and walked out to the pastures. There I saw him peacefully grazing...until he heard the gate that is! He started trotting around me in circles. I broke the carrot in half and said"Mmmmmm.....what a good carrot! Oh! Would you like some?" He started nosing my hand and I held the carrot out for him to eat. I clipped the lead line on him and brought him back inside...where I put him in the crossties. "I wish I could give you a bath boy...but it's too cold out! You'll just have to be happy with a good grooming!" So I took off his blanket and started brushing him. I curried him, brushed him with a hard then soft brush, then brushed out his mane and tail, then gently brushed his face, then picked out his feet and applied hoof oil. It was supposed to be cold tonight so I put on his stable blanket then his winter blanket and brought him to his stall. He nuzzled me and whinnied afeter me after I took off his halter and hung it on his door and shut him in. I put the grooming bucket away and came back to his stall. There I stroked him for a while and then said" Don't worry boy, I'll be back in a little while. I have to go take care of your sister! Love You!"

[devilishjumper]

1-4-05

Session #3

Hey there hero you are always soooo clean that can mean one thing you are papmered you lucky boy!!! OK today we work on jumpers!!! By the end of this week you should be ready to enter in the up coming jumper show!!!

I tack him up and bring him in the arena. I set up a course. I first make a Birdie as i had done yesterday but this time it was aboout 2'3''. I make a 2' straight rail and a course of 7, 2' jumps with minor turns and one simple line nothing too hard. I jump on and warm him up for 15 min it is a cool brisk day but the rings sand is soft and luckily not forzen!!!

I take him over thesingle 2' jump and i can already see the improvement from yesterday. I then take him over the birdie, he snaps his knees and jumps off his hock, good boy and i give him a good pat. I then take him over the birdie 5 more times and then perform the course. I let him have wide cornes and a stedy slow pase. He was completely clear well boy that was a wonderful round but this is jumpers the world of fast paces and tight turns! I do the couse again this time making him have a fast pace. He chips to a few of the jumps but ends up clear. I do the course one more time like this and he only chips once. Then I add in tight turns. He doesn't turn very tight and needs work on that. I do the course once more and then take him over the birdie for the final jump. I hop off good boy you have learned a lot!!!

Later today is corss country!

I take in in the stable and untack and groom him!
bye boy

[Melanie]

"How's my sweet baby boy doin? You're such a cutie!" He looks like he has had a long workout so I only take him out and walk him slowly around the stable yard a couple of times. I don't want him to be too tired for his training but I don't want him to be too full of energy either. He walks quietly beside me just looking around taking everything in. He catches sight of the jumpss and pricks his ears and prances. He looks happy to see those. " Shhh...boy...We're not jumping right now...Calm down!" I take him back to the barn and attatch him to the crossties. He jusn't doesn't want to stand still today! I eventually quiet him down and get to grooming him. I'm sue his trainer did this already because he's so clean but I go over him with a soft brush and pick out his hooves and apply hoof oil. Then I go and do a quick clean of his stall since it wasn't very messy. I refill his water bucket and then grab his 3 scoops of grain and 2 flakes of hay. I place them in his stall and go get him. He is turned sideways in the aisle looking at me! " You crazy boy! I was just cleaning your stall and feeding you!" He pricks his ears and starts whinnying as I get closer. I quiet him down again and put his blankets on. He dances around and I have to quiet him down again. I guess my light work out should have been a lttle more heavier but I didn't want him to get tired. "I guess your trainer is gonna have a lot of fun with you boy!" I take him back to his stall and get him settled. He lunges for his food and watches as I walk down the aisle. I look back and see him with hay sticking out of his mouth whilehis jaw moves back and forth. I laugh."See you later silly boy!"

[Melanie]

" Hey Hero! How's my boy!" He whinnies when he hears my voice and sticks his head over his stall. I grab a lunge line from the tack room, put a lighter blanket on him, and head to the indoor. I figure he could be lunged for a while since I didn't do much with him yesterday. I heasd to the miidle and when we get there, I send him away. He trots away and starts to walk around me. I let him walk for a good 5 minutes and then asked for a trot. He starts a slow, pokey trot so I crack my whip on the ground and he picks up the pace that I want. I have him trot for 5 circuits and then ask for a canter. He picks up a nice collected canter...but not before he could throw a few bucks in! "Crazy boy...Come on now...You need to focus!" So he canters around me twice until I ask him to ho. He does and then I asked him to change directions. He wheels around on his haunches and starts out at the trot the other way. " Walk boy." He walks and after a few circuits I ask him to trot. He picks up a good pace and then I ask him to canter. He does and after one time around I ask him to ho. I walk over to him and start to cool him out. After 10 minutes I check him and he's cool. " Good boy!" I take him back to the barn...brush him and then put his winter blankets on. I give him 3 scoops of grain and two flakes of hay and kiss him goodbye. " I'll see you later, big guy!"

[Melanie]

" Hey boy...sorry I couldn't make it yesterday. As you can see I got in a little accident at your sister's place." I look down at my broken leg and arm. "Oh well. The doctor said that I could take care of you but I can't ride you or anything." I hobbled over to the tack room so I could grab his brushes and thought that I should probably get someone to help with Hero. He's such a big boy and I wouldn't want him to hurt me. Not for Last Breath though, she's still a little wary of other people. I grab Hero's halter and leave my crutches outside so I wouldn't startle him. If you have ever tried to put on a halter on one handed you don't know how hard it is! I finally got it on and Hero was looking at me like I was a total idiot. " Hey, I can't help it! Stop looking at me like that!" I clip his lead rope onto his halter and hop with him following me quietly to the pasture. I let him out and thought...Oh no! It's going to be so hard to catch him! I hopped back to the barn and grabbed the mucketbucket with wheels...all the more easier to use with a broken arm! and went to his stall. I leaned on one crutch and started mucking out. I have never sweated so much or felt so tired mucking out a stall before. Plus all my broken bones started to hurt. When I finished I couldn't grab his water bucket so I brought the hose to his stall and filled it up. I put the hose away and went into the feed room to grab his three scoops of feed and his two flakes of hay. I put them in his stall and went to go get him. Miracously... he didn't put up a fight at all. He was waiting at the gate for me! He did run around his pasture to gethis energy out before and managed to roll in the mud but he was standing waiting for me! I quickly clipped on the lead rope telling him what a good boy he was and crutched my way back to the barn. It seemed like he understood how important it was that he stay still and gentle with me. I was glad. After I had groomed him I led him back to his stall. He lunged right for his food and I gave him a pat goodbye. " Bye Hero...I love you boy!"

[devilishjumper]

1-4-05
Session #4
Hey there Hero are you ready to do some cross country??? I take him out into the ring and lunge him first, I do not want to get bucked off while doing cross-country! I lunge him for 15 minutes and then get on and just ride him in the ring to make sure she is sound and under control before we head out. I walk out of the ring and ride him down to the cross-country course, which is about a ½ mile walk from the barn. He is spooky and a bit jumpy while going out but I do lots of circles and keep his mind on me. When we get out there I ride him around the jumps just weaving in and out of them but not jumping I do lots of circles and I do this for about 30 minutes. After hero is completely under control after all this trotting around I ask for the canter and he is absolutely fine, then I ask him to gallop around a section of the field and is under control and has a wonderful pace. While we are going around a bird flies out in front of him and he spooks side stepping and taking off a bit I put my leg on and ask him to keep going and he clams down right away. After He is not spooking any more I bring him back to a trot and trot him over a small 1’ log. He jumps it big but doesn’t spook and doesn’t take off after ward. I take him over the log again and again until he jumps it nicely. I then take him over a tire jump, which he jumps a bit big but the second time he jumps very nicely. Okay boy that is enough.

I walk him back to the barn and give him a treat and a good groom. I put a cooler on him and wait for him to dry, when he does I put his blankets back on and give him fresh water.

Bye boy I’ll see you tomorrow!

[devilishjumper]

1-5-05
Session #5
Good Morning Hero!!! You still look tired from yesterday! Don’t worry just a little flat work this morning. I take him out and tack him up. I walk him around to make sure he is sound from yesterday’s work, which he is, and then I warm him up. I do some dressage with him, which he seems to enjoy and he is much calmer than usual. I do canter halts, which will help him and jumpers. It takes him a little while to hat at first and then he would not canter out of the halt at first either. But to halt I sat back at closed my leg and asked him to halt, when he didn’t I pulled up hard and made him halt. He quickly caught on and was beginning to have perfect halts. To make him canter from the halt I would put my leg on and ask for the canter and when he didn’t canter right away I gave him a small tap on his rear end with the crop and after that he was perfect. I then did some lead changes with him by crossing the diagonal and asking for the change which he was excellent at.

I then got off and un-tacked and groomed him. I put his blankets back on and give him fresh water.

Bye boy I’ll see you later!

[devilishjumper]

1-5-05
Session #6
Hey there boy how are you doing? You look a bit livelier this afternoon! I take him out and groom him and tack him up. I take him out to the ring and set up some jumps. I set up a 1’ a 2’ a 2’3’’ jump and a 2’3’’ birdie. Okay boy last time you proved you could jump but this time we shall go a little higher. I first get on and warm him up. Warm him up for about 15 minutes doing canter halts like we had practiced before. I took him over the 2’3’’ birdie to give him the idea to pick up his feet. He jumped it big but had no hesitation. I did some more canter halts and went to the birdie again. A few strides in front of the birdie I sat back like I was going to ask him to halt but then asked him to jump. This forced him to roll back on his hocks and he jumped up over the jump perfectly and this time did not jump big and did not take off. I did this a few more times and then jumped it again with out asking him to jump off his hock but rather letting him make his own decision and he jumped it perfectly off his hocks. I then took him over the 2’3’’ straight rail and he had a perfect jump. I gave him a big pat and got off. I was very happy with him!

I took him in and un-tacked and groomed him. I gave him fresh water and a carrot. I’ll see you tomorrow Hero!!!